Contact Detroit Free Press food writer Sue Selasky and send food and restaurant news to: 313-222-6872 or sselasky@freepress.com. Judge says Starbucks committed egregious and widespread labor violations Greta Thunberg removed from site of Norwegian wind farm protest, Zero-calorie sweetener popular in keto diets linked to strokes, heart attacks, China, Belarus call for cease-fire, negotiations in Ukraine, Fight in high school classroom leaves one dead, one injured, The shepherd boy, the wolf and the threat to Israeli democracy, Watch live: White House monkeypox response team holds briefing, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. WebThis program will provide restaurants with funding equal to their pandemic-related revenue loss up to $10 million per business and no more than $5 million per physical location. Defendants propose as the government's compelling interest "remedying the effects of past and present discrimination" by "supporting small businesses owned by socially and economically disadvantaged small business owners who have borne an outsized burden of economic harms of [the] COVID-19 pandemic." Taken together, that testimony was enough for the district court to conclude that Congress had a strong basis in evidence for its conclusion that remedial action was necessary to address specific past discrimination, particularly as it related to the pandemic, the minority opinion stated. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter. A $28.6 billion federal restaurant aid fund has in its first week received more than 266,000 applications from struggling restaurants, many of which come from the They're legitimate and they deserve to be funded.". Jakes Bar and Grill owner Antonio Vitolo won the appeal of his lawsuit against the SBA on May 28 after a Sixth Circuit court panel ruled that the 21-day prioritization program is unconstitutional. Some of these emails indicated an application had been denied and that the SBA would no longer consider it. . Doing so will promote equal rights under the law for all American citizens and promote efforts to stop racial discrimination, the lawsuit adds, mirroring language included in AFLs lawsuit filed late last month against the Department of Agricultures program to provide aid to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers., Ina statement announcing the new lawsuit Thursday, Miller said, Few industries have been harder hit by lockdowns and restrictions than the restaurant and bar industry.. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. In at least one instance, the plaintiff was assisted in bringing the legal action by a conservative group that objected to the SBAs acknowledged bias. The legal complaint argues that the fund requires the SBA to discriminate among restaurants according to the race and sex of the owner, by specifying that during the first 21 days of the program that officially began last week, the SBA administrator must prioritize awarding grants to businesses owned by women and racial minorities., These race and sex preferences are patently unconstitutional, and the Court should promptly enjoin their enforcement. The latest from Restaurant Business, sent straight to your inbox. A lawsuiton behalf of the operator of the Lost Cajun restaurantin Texaswas filed by America First Legal, a legal group founded by Stephen Miller and Mark Meadows, former aides to President Donald Trump, according to Reuters. One was an air ball., Go big or go home. In the suit, the Lost Cajun owners Janice Smith and Jason Smith, along with Pennsylvania restaurant owner Eric Nyman, allege that the Small Business Administrations plan to distribute pandemic relief funds to small businesses is unconstitutional. Oops. | To date, the administration has distributed $2.7 billion in aid to 21,000 restaurants since the program opened May 3. Yet, as these restaurant owners, operators and workers try to pick up the pieces and rebuild their businesses, they are facing a new and insidious threat: racial discrimination from the government, he argued. The administration announced at the fund's launch more than a week ago it would prioritize businesses owned by women, veterans and other socially or economically disadvantaged individuals for the first 21 days of the program, then process applications for all businesses on a first-come, first-serve basis. The programs administrator, the U.S. Small Business Administration, hadnt hidden that preference, just as it had acknowledged setting aside $5 billion of the funds $28.6 billion for very small restaurant companies. The Biden administration has vowed that it will continue to fight the Texas judges injunction in court, but it remains a mystery when Restaurant Revitalization Fund applicants who applied as socially disadvantaged individuals will be able to receive the funds they need. Sign up to receive texts from Restaurant Business on news and insights that matter to your brand. Neighborhood improvement, fighting poverty among priorities for Detroit's $400M rescue fund, New Michigan law clears the way for higher-alcohol canned cocktails, become a digital subscriber to the Free Press, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Something went wrong. On March 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Jones-Shafroth Act, granting Puerto Rico status a United State territory and granting all of its residents U.S. citizenship. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said that even with the best of intentions altering the price of foods and services based on race is illegal. Other restaurant owners report a similar experience: After days of calls, emails, and messages through the SBA portal and reassurance that the money was still coming, the grants were rescinded. The matter came to light days after a group of senators and congressmen from both parties had introduced a bipartisan proposal to re-up the RRF with $60 billion. Please enter a valid email and try again. The fund itself was based on the RESTAURANTS Act, a congressional proposal that sought $120 billion in direct aid to independent restaurants. Related: SBA data confirms that the current Restaurant Revitalization Fund cant meet demand. Support local journalism and become a digital subscriber to the Free Press. All rights reserved. The decision comes after a federal judge in Texas issued an injunction on the release of the funds following a lawsuit from a Dallas-Fort Worth restaurant that alleges the programs plan to distribute funds to businesses owned by women, veterans, and racial minorities is unconstitutional. The Restaurant Revitalization Fund was practically destined to be oversubscribed. On Thursday, a federal appeals court issued an injunction against prioritizing COVID relief to restaurants based on their owners race and sex, finding that was unconstitutionally discriminatory. While the Court is mindful of statistical disparities and expert conclusions based on those disparities, "[d]efining these sorts of injuries as 'identified discrimination' would give governments license to create a patchwork of racial preferences based on statistical generalizations about any particular field of endeavor." The SBA argued that the decision would be moot as most of the Restaurant Revitalization Funds have already been distributed and the decision would not retroactively re-collect them. WebLike any business, a successful hedge fund starts with careful planning and strategy. 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LPG Charity Fund 20811 Katie Marie Ct. | Cypress, TX 77433 Phone: 281 797-5927. Some business owners have seen their approved grants rescinded due to lawsuits and lack of additional action from Congress. And its cuts must be informed by data that suggest intentional discrimination. Not Great, What the Second Round of CARES Act Funding Means for Restaurants, The Coronavirus Stimulus Package: What Everyone in the Restaurant Industry Should Know, Help Is on the Way for Restaurants. For the first 21 days, the fund was open for applications from women, individuals who are economically or socially disadvantaged, and veterans. The Restaurant Revitalization Fund was introduced as part of President Biden's American Rescue Plan, funneling billions directly to independent restaurants. The law says a business is required to have 51% ownership by someone in one of the priority groups to qualify for the early priority for aid. Philip Greer, the owner of a cafe in Texas, wanted to apply to the Small Business Administrations Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) for help after his cafe lost $100,000 in revenue because of the pandemic. | Thus, the Court concludes that the government has failed to prove that it likely has a compelling interest in "remedying the effects of past and present discrimination" in the restaurant industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. The nearly 3,000 restaurants whose application approvals were rescinded will be paid once it completes processing all previously filed non-priority applications, and only then if the RRF is not first exhausted, the SBA told The New York Times. Members help make our journalism possible. Greer seeks monetary relief under the $28.6-billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund ("RRF") created by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ("ARPA") and administered Thursdays lawsuit from America First Legal (AFL) specifically takes issue with the Small Business Administrations (SBA) handling of the $28.6 billion in the Restaurant By May 15, the fund received 147,000 applications from the prioritized group requesting $29 billion in relief funds, according to the SBA. Roughly $2.7 billion have already been administered to 21,000 restaurants under the program, the AP noted. That suit is still pending, but unlike in the Texas case, Tennessee judge Travis McDonough denied the groups request for an injunction that wouldve paused the disbursement of funds. That sought $ 120 billion in aid to 21,000 restaurants under the program, the AP.. Of additional action from Congress the administration has distributed $ 2.7 billion have already been administered to 21,000 since... 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